Abu Dhabi businessman picks up penthouse in £30 million Mayfair shopping spree

An Abu Dhabi businessman on a London shopping trip has snapped up a Mayfair penthouse and two other properties in a building that was once the London headquarters and showroom of German piano makers Bechstein in a £30.45 million deal.

In the remarkable pre-Christmas property buying spree the unnamed purchaser signed on the 5,818 sq ft duplex with roof garden; a neighbouring three bedroom 2,700 sq ft apartment; and a staff flat, all at Fenton Whelan’s Greybrook House development on Brook Street opposite Claridge’s hotel,

The penthouse and staff flat were listed at £21.5 million and the thee bedroom apartment, which will used to accommodate guests, at £8.95 million.

Greybrook House is a Grade II Listed, six-storey Art Deco building finished in white Portland stone was originally designed by architects Sir John Burnett & Partners and built in 1929.

James Van Den Heule, co-founding director of Fenton Whelan said: “We are delighted with this landmark deal agreed at Greybrook House, this luxurious apartment building is virtually sold-out now and it enables us to focus on other ongoing projects and new ventures.”

Gary Hersham, founding director of agents Beauchamp Estates, which handled the sale, said: “The Greybrook House deal underlines how strong the Mayfair super-prime housing market has been during the last 12 months. Mayfair is currently the most sought-after address in Prime Central London for wealthy home buyers from around the world.”

Yahya Swallem, senior sales consultant at Beauchamp Estates says: “The £10 million plus deals landscape in Mayfair has been dominated by American, Indian and Middle East buyers who have chosen to invest in London’s very best residential real estate which is a proven safe-haven and stable asset class.

“Mayfair is seen as the address of choice for global capital and remains arguably the most desirable location in Europe for multi-millionaires and billionaires to buy or rent a home and spend their time.”

Greybrook House on Brook Street was built in 1929 as Bechstein’s showrooms, as the firm sought to re-establish a visible presence in the British piano market after being forced to shut down during the First World War.

It has been refurbished over the past three years into a residential address.